Monday, December 15, 2008

Saturday December 13

There were a dozen games on the Saturday night tap as the NHL keeps pumping out fresh hockey draught. Former Islanders are no strangers to help and kicked in their contributions in 6 of those tilts. Here is a look at the FI workload:

Pittsburgh winger Ruslan Fedotenko continued his wave of good play with a powerplay goal and an assist as the Penguinbs fell to the host Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 in a Battle of Pennsylvania matchup. Fedo now has 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 4 consecutive games and has improved to 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) on 28 games this season. Scoring the 2nd Pittsburgh goal was tough guy winger Eric Godard. The goal was the 1st of the season for Godard who now has 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) on 28 games. The netter snapped a 23 game point-less streak and a 98 game goal-less streak dating back to October 13, 2007 while still with the Calgary Flames. The goal was career point #10 for Godard who has 4 goals and 6 assists over 228 NHL games.

Washington forward Viktor Kozlov had the secondary assist on the game winning goal with only 2:32 remaining in play as the Capitals edged the host Montreal Canadiens 2-1. Kozzer has 5 goals and 12 assists for 17 points on 26 games. Over the last 3 games Kozlov has recorded 3 assists including 1 with the man advantage.

Devils' goaltender Kevin Weekes stopped 30 of 34 shots as host New Jersey fell to the Buffalo Sabres 4-2. The start was Weekes' 1st in over 3 weeks dating back to November 21 when he notched career win #100. In that time Scott Clemmensen had secured all the other starts in what has turned out to be an interesting goalie battle since the injury to starter Martin Brodeur. The loss dropped Weekes to 2-4-0 on the season with an .899 save percentage and a 3.06 goals against average. Weekes has dropped 3 of his last 4 starts after starting the season 1-1-0.

Chris Osgood does not need stellar save percentages or low goals against averages to win, he has the Red Wings around him to take charge and edge the competition. Detroit skipped by the host Phoenix Coyotes with a 5-4 SO win and Ozzie was a winner yet again. Osgood stopped 24 of 28 shots between regulation and OT and 3 of 4 in SO to record his 16th straight start without a regulation loss. Ozzie is now 12-1-4 on the season including 12-0-4 during his current 16 game stretch. Yet, despite success his gaa is 3.20 and his save % is a lowly .875. The victory was win #375 for Ozzie and came in game #682/start #655.

Edmonton defenseman Denis Grebeshkov recorded the secondary assist on the game winning goal only 49 seconds in to regulation as the Oilers blanked the visiting Vancouver Canucks for a 3-0 win. Greb has 1 goal and 11 assists for 12 points on 25 games. He is currently 5th on the team in helpers. Also getting involved was Robert Nilsson who capped the scoring with less than 18 minutes remaining in play. Nilsson snapped a 6 game goal-less streak and scored in his first game back since suffering an injury during the November 30 game. Nilsson now has 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points on 24 games.

San Jose d-man Brad Lukowich had an assist on the game winner with just over 5 minutes remaining in regulation as the Sharks slipped by the visiting St. Louis Blues for a 5-4 victory. Luko has 6 assists on 26 games this season including 2 over the last 4. He is currently 5th among Sharks defensemen in assists.